1. In 1868, the University of Kansas was officially opened in Lawrence. It was the first public university in the state of Kansas.
2. In 1953, the first successful open-heart surgery using a heart-lung machine was performed at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City.
3. In 1742, French explorer Pierre-Francois Xavier de Charlevoix became the first recorded European to visit the area now known as Kansas.
4. In 1885, the Dalton Gang attempted to rob two banks in the town of Coffeyville. The attempted robbery resulted in a shootout with law enforcement, and several members of the gang, including brothers Bob and Grat Dalton, were killed.
5. In 1960, the first Kansas Turnpike, a toll road running from Kansas City to Wichita, was opened to the public.